On Monday night's The 11th Hour on MSNBC, after reading some of the key findings of the new NBC poll showing Biden's approval ratings sinking, host Stephanie Ruhle seemed stumped as to why President Joe Biden isn't getting credit for what she describes as his "big wins."
Ruhle started the segment by reading from an NBC News story on Biden's approval numbers: "the next headline sounds alarming. Quote, 'Biden's job approval falls to the lowest level of his presidency, amid war, and inflation fears,'" Ruhle announced before lecturing middle-class Americans on why they should be thanking Biden despite not being able to afford gas or groceries because of rising inflation:
But, let's add a little context to those fears. Let's bring in some facts. The United States is already sending billions in military, and economic support, to Ukraine. And there is every indication economic sanctions are strangling the Russian economy. Right now, NATO is as unified as it has ever been. And while inflation here at home is still a big problem, jobless rates are the lowest that they have been in more than 50 years, and the American people recover from COVID-19, so does our economy.
But, that is not translating to the American voter. A new NBC poll finds many Americans are still skeptical of Biden's ability to, properly, respond to the crisis in Ukraine. Just 28 percent say they have a great deal, or quite a bit, of confidence. Biden's general approval rating is not much better. 40 percent of those questioned, say they approve of his performance. 55 percent say they disapprove.
Ruhle then turned to former Republican turned Biden-loving Democrat Charlie Sykes of The Bulwark to demand an answer for why Biden isn't "reaping the benefits in the polls", proclaiming "these are big wins!"
Sykes told her that voters aren't focused on the war in Ukraine, instead, they are "focused on inflation, they’re focused on crime, they’re focused on the border and they continue to be worried about mixed messaging on the pandemic." He then informed her that Biden needs "some sort of a reset" and to figure out how to better connect with Americans.
Ruhle didn't want to hear that, wailing "but Charlie a reset of what? We are putting COVID behind us, we are in an economic recovery, we are doing a lot to support Ukraine, while we’re not risking the lives of our troops on the ground." Ruhle kvetched: "What does he need to reset, and not to mention the infrastructure bill that passed is enormous."
Sykes replied that the average voter doesn't remember the infrastructure bill, which according to him is why he isn't getting credit for it.
It is ironic that Ruhle is complaining about Americans blaming Biden for the poor economy when one of the reasons why they believe the economy is poor is because of skyrocketing inflation caused by massive government spending like the infrastructure bill.
This out-of-touch segment was made possible by Applebee's. Their information is linked so you can let them know about the kind of programming they fund.
To read the relevant transcript click "expand":
MSNBC’s The 11th Hour
3/28/2022
11:43:51 p.m. EasternSTEPHANIE RUHLE: The next headline sounds alarming. Quote, Biden's job approval falls to the lowest level of his presidency, amid war, and inflation fears. But, let's add a little context to those fears. Let's bring in some facts. The United States is already sending billions in military, and economic support, to Ukraine. And there is every indication economic sanctions are strangling the Russian economy. Right now, NATO is as unified as it has ever been. And while inflation here at home is still a big problem, jobless rates are the lowest that they have been in more than 50 years, and the American people recover from COVID-19, so does our economy.
But, that is not translating to the American voter. A new NBC poll finds many Americans are still skeptical of Biden's ability to, properly, respond to the crisis in Ukraine. Just 28 percent say they have a great deal, or quite a bit, of confidence. Biden's general approval rating is not much better. 40 percent of those questioned, say they approve of his performance. 55 percent say they disapprove. Let's find out why. Back tonight, NBC News correspondent, and moderator of Washington Week, on PBS. And Charlie Sykes, Editor at Large of The Bulwark, and an MSNBC political analyst. Charlie, I want you to explain that to us. I just ran down some significant, hard evidence, positives, that we are experiencing, and Biden can tout. Why isn't he reaping the benefits in the polls? These are big wins!
(...)
CHARLIE SYKES: The reality is voters right now, are not focused on that. This is the harsh reality. They're focused on inflation, they’re focused on crime, they’re focused on the border and they continue to be worried about mixed messaging on the pandemic. And there’s a real danger that Joe Biden is now caught between people who think he is being too tough on Russia and people who think that he’s not doing enough, and amid all of that I think that there has been some muddled messaging. Look, you and I can go on for some time with the facts, and we could also observe the Republicans are losing their minds, and behaving in extreme ways. But, right now, the Democrats are in charge. And at some point, I do think that Joe Biden has to come up with some sort of a reset. Find a way to connect to the American people in a way that he hasn't, use the bully pulpit more effectively.
RUHLE: But Charlie a reset of what? We are putting COVID behind us, we are in an economic recovery, we are doing a lot to support Ukraine, while we’re not risking the lives of our troops on the ground. What does he need to reset, and not to mention the infrastructure bill that passed is enormous.
SYKES: Yes which nobody remembers at the moment. He's not getting credit for these things. I mean that's part of the problem. Politics is about perception as well as reality and Joe Biden has not connected himself with a lot of that. The Democrats spent a lot of last year fighting with one another, and talking about whether their agenda was being derailed. So as a result there’s not that wind at his back, where he is the leading figure behind the economic recovery, behind the end of the pandemic. He needs to take credit for what he is doing to talk about that. But he needs to do it clearer.
(...)
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, this issue really comes down to two things. And Charlie touched on both of them. And it is perception and messaging. When you talk to Democratic pollsters, as I have, they tell you this really comes down to the Democratic Party rallying around the President and really echoing some of the things that the President has been saying. When you look at this poll some of the numbers that jump out to me are not only are Americans saying that they're not confident in President Biden to handle what's going on in Russia, and Ukraine, but, they're also blaming President Biden for the inflation, and high gas prices, by 38 percent. And blaming only Russia, by 6 percent. Let's remember, that the White House has been saying that this is Putin's price hike. That was the words that they were using, and Democrats in some ways, based on my reporting and talking to Democrats, they're sort of frustrated with the situation, they say that the party needs to double down on that.
(...)
